Monthly Archives: March 2015

“Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29

Biblically speaking, there are two times, and only two times when it is necessary for the children of God to disregard, disobey, and defy the laws of the land and simply refuse to obey their government: 1.) When the government by law forbids someone from obeying God – Daniel’s praying against the law that forbade it; 2.) When the government by forces someone to disobey God – Hananiah, Azariah, and Meshael, (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) being forced to bow to a false god. Only when circumstance fit within the framework of those scriptural principles can a child of God rightly and flatly refuse to obey the laws of the government ruling over them.

I have never seen a time in our nation when either one of those scenarios were the case. To my limited knowledge there has never been a time, when I, anyone I know, or anyone I have heard of, was forced into disobeying the God of the Bible. Conversely, to my limited knowledge there has never been a time when I, anyone I know, or anyone I have heard of was forbidden from obeying God. Within the scope of my vision frontwards, backwards and all around I have never seen either of those cases play out in our society . . . until now.

Though not here yet, we are standing on the cliff of Government Run Faith. Of course we have seen government run health-care on the front porch of the evening news for a while now. Government regulations grip every industry from education and finance to bean sprouts, pot holes, and outhouses. If what is happening over the law being passed in Indiana is any indication of the direction and mood of those wanting the government to regulate body fat, and hairstyles, the next big thing is government approved belief.

The central issue in those shouting the accusations of discrimination is the fact that they cannot and will not stand for someone believing a particular behavior is wrong. As one commentator said, “No one would dare expect a black baker to prepare cupcakes for a KKK rally.” Why then on earth would someone expect a Bible believing Christian to endorse a gay marriage?

Regardless of how loud it gets said, how long they say it, or how many people chime in, in agreement, the scenario they present of a Christian florist refusing flowers for a gay couple is not now, nor has it ever been, nor will it ever be discrimination. It is discernment, conviction, and belief based on the Word of God not to aid and abet a sin that has always been, and always will be a sin. It is not bigotry, it is not hatred, it is not intolerance. We do not provide alcohol to alcoholics, we do not carry people with gambling problems to casinos, we do not drive get away cars for bank-robbers.

Acting upon homosexual attraction is not acceptable to the God of creation. It is not okay, it is not to be embraced, applauded, aided or abetted. From what God has said to man, it is morally illegal, it is spiritually illegal, it is eternally illegal, it is outright bona fide, sin. Period. That is the end of the subject for Christians, and it will never, ever, ever, change. As I have said before, if God said something different, then every Bible believing Christian in the world would say something different. We do not take our cues from “how we are born” we take our cues from “What God has said.”

If those who’s tolerance is a one-way street would speak in plain honest language, what they would says is, “You are not allowed to believe what you believe, and you are not allowed to behave according to that belief. You cannot believe the Bible, you cannot obey the Bible, and you cannot proclaim what you say the Bible says.” Of course that’s my words in their mouths, but that is what I’m hearing from those who have more heat than light.

According to the direction of the mood of this country, the heart of their heat, and their hate is aimed at regulating what Americans are allowed to believe. It is not socially acceptable to “believe gay marriage is wrong.” If that course of thinking continues to be fertilized and fed, it will not be long before it is not legally acceptable to continue to “behave” with the conviction that gay marriage is wrong. Changes are definitely coming, and they are the kind that are not worth making

HEBREW HONEYCOMB
WILL A MAN ROB GOD?
I know, I know! Everybody’s mind is made up from the title of this article what it is going to be all about. When pastors choose this title and use Malachi 3:8, it is almost always a message of giving of money to the cause of the church. So how could this be any different. Well, think with me and see!
Certainly, a lot of churchgoers do rob God in the matters of tithes and offerings as the context of this Old Testament passage of scripture indicates, but that is not the primary burden of this article. Robbery of God takes on a much grander scale of which robbery in tithes and offerings is but a symptom. Consider that when one repents from sin and receives Christ Jesus into his heart, he is born from above and his spirit sealed with the Holy Spirit of God. That person has been purchased by the shed blood of Jesus. He is no longer his own, but a subject of Jesus. As such he is to render praise and honor to his Savior (how logical). So what do many do? They find any excuse, and the slightest one at that, to miss church worship services or the giving of themselves in any noticeable way to honor the God of their salvation. Many, yes, many, would be embarrassed beyond words if they were called upon to lead in prayer, because prayer is a stranger to them. Will a man then rob God of the just honor due Him? Will a man rob God of the glory He is to receive from him in His church? Will a man rob God of His rightful place in his heart? Will a man rob God of His rightful place in his home? Will a man rob God of the power of personal testimony that he is failing to share with others? How many ways modern Christians do rob God!
The problem is a heart problem! Moreover, that speaks to the attitude toward tithes and offerings. Jesus pungently said it when He taught that where a man’s heart is, there will his treasure also be. So, look around. Where does your money go? Where is your leisure time spent? Where do you find your joy? There is where your treasure is. Certainly, it is a precious few who find their heart and their treasure in the things of God. Among far too many the decision is repeatedly made to rob God! It is robbery, sheer robbery! It is the kind of robbery that a sermon, or brow-beating, or grudging change will NOT fix. It is the kind that underscores heart trouble.
Knowing that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of deeds whether they are good or evil, wisdom cries out for a return of the heart to the God who bought it with His precious blood. When that cry is heeded, all the other things will be fixed.

Wouters van Kuijck was finally burned at the stake on this day in 1572 after he was tortured and scourged in the prison at Dordrecht, Holland. He had been moving his family from place to place in his effort to avoid arrest, for he was considered a heretic by the State Church for his belief that salvation was a personal matter of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. The bailiff learned where Jan was residing and he and his men came to arrest him. Knowing that his arrest would end in the capture of his entire family, Jan said in a booming voice, “it is I” when the bailiff knocked and asked, “Does Jan van Kuijck live here?” Of course it was designed to allow his family to escape, which they did. During his imprisonment he wrote a dozen letters that have been preserved, eleven to family including his daughter and one to his captors presenting clearly his faith and a warning to them of judgment. He concluded that letter with these words, “I confess one Lord, one faith, one God, one Father of all, who is above all, and in all believers. I believe only what the Holy Scriptures say, and not what men say.” Fearing his testimony Jan’s mouth was gagged before he was taken to the place of execution. Somehow he managed to relieve himself of the gag. A fellow believer was able to draw close to him and he opened his shirt and showed him his bloody body from the scourgings, and said, “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” As the fire was kindled he looked over those assembled and cried, “…farewell my dear brethren and sisters, I herewith commend you to the Lord, to the Lord Who shed his blood for us.”

A Christian street preacher convicted and fined by a U.K. judge, who also serves with an Islamic Shariah court, is guilty of having breached the public order by his choice of Bible verses.

Michael Overd, a former British paratrooper who has been street preaching for five years, was convicted this week of delivering “homophobic sermons” over a loudspeaker in Taunton, Somerset, last summer.

Overd faced two charges relating to claims by homosexuals he had offended them and another of causing “racially aggravated” harassment targeted at Muslims, the BBC reported. He was found guilty of only one of the “homophobic” charges.

“I have been ordered to pay compensation for causing ‘emotional pain’ to someone who approached me aggressively demanding to debate the issue,” said Overd. “There was no harm, injury or theft, just a simple disagreement over theology which I have now been fined for.”

District Judge Shamim Ahmed Qureshi told Overd he should not have referenced Leviticus chapter 20 in explaining the biblical view on homosexuality, but “clearly indicated that he could have used chapter 18 of the book,” reported Christian Concern.

Qureshi found no problem with Overd’s use of Leviticus 18:22 which describes homosexual activity as an “abomination,” but a reference to Leviticus 20:13 was impermissible because it prescribed the death penalty.

Overd agreed he used Leviticus 20 in his comments but never referenced the death penalty.

“I am being punished for words that never passed my lips,” he said.

Overd, who initially told the judge he would not pay the fine but relented when threatened with 45 days in jail, took particular issue with Qureshi dictating which passages from the Bible were lawful for him to use.

“I am amazed that the judge sees it as his role to dictate which parts of the Bible can and can’t be preached,” he said.

“I did not quote the full text of Leviticus 20 or make reference to the death penalty, but the judge is telling me that I should use other parts of the Bible. This is not free speech but censorship. The judge is redacting the Bible.

During sentencing, Qureshi criticized Overd’s speaking style and his training as a preacher.

“In my view he enjoys coaxing people into asking him questions so that he can reply loudly into the microphone to answer them. The only semblance of civilized conversation is when they commend him, if they disagree he shouts them down.”

Accusing Overd of “double standards,” Qureshi said the street preacher believed he was right and everyone else was wrong.

Qureshi continued: Overd “does not display any scholarly approach to the topics but merely preaches whatever little he had learned, regardless of being rude or bullying to others. He happily shouts out the negative points in any other religion.”

“Mike is clear that he is motivated by love, not hate. Indeed, this is in line with the message of the Bible,” she said in defense of her client.

“It’s clear from the evidence that he has consistently dealt with people’s objections in a balanced and reasonable way. He has explained his beliefs. He hasn’t been aggressive or targeted anybody in particular. The evidence bears all this out.

“Mike’s boldness and his witness to Jesus is remarkably similar to that of the apostles in the early years of the church.

“They were also hauled before the courts to defend themselves for preaching a message of love and truth. They also faced trumped up accusations in an attempt to portray them as ‘disruptive.’

“Now, as then, the disruptive ones appear to be the people who bring accusations, on the flimsiest of evidence, against a man who loves Jesus and loves people. This is why Mike gets up and preaches in Taunton town center.

“There will always be those who disagree with the Bible’s teaching. But we should defend to the hilt the freedom to proclaim it in a loving way, which is what Mike Overd always seeks to do.”

As for Overd, he said he has no intention of allowing the court to dictate his street preaching.

In the last years of the Roman Republic, Marcus Tullius Cicero, penned his dialogue De Legibus (On the Laws). Regarding the Nature of Man, of Justice, of Right, of True Law and of the Framer and Proposer of this Law, Cicero testified:

Of all these things respecting which learned men dispute there is none more important than clearly to understand that we are born for justice, and that right is founded not in opinion but in nature. There is indeed a true law (lex), right reason, agreeing with nature and diffused among all, unchanging, everlasting, which calls to duty by commanding, deters from wrong by forbidding… It is not allowable to alter this law nor to deviate from it. Nor can it be abrogated. Nor can we be released from this law either by the senate or by the people. Nor is any person required to explain or interpret it. Nor is it one law at Rome and another at Athens, one law today and another thereafter; but the same law, everlasting and unchangeable, will bind all nations and all times; and there will be one common Lord and Ruler of all, even God, the framer and proposer of this law.

I wanted to write you and let you know why we don’t attend the services of the church faithfully.

You have chosen for Your day, a day that comes at the end of a hard week when we are all tired out. Also, it comes just after Saturday night and that is the night we feel we should enjoy ourselves and take in a movie or a ball game, or a party; and it is usually after midnight when we get to sleep. You have chosen the very day on which we need to sleep late. Then, too, my family demands a big Sunday dinner; and when I get up so late, I can’t get all this prepared and make it to Bible study and for preaching. John likes to read the Sunday sports page thoroughly, and the kids want to read all the funnies. I mean no disrespect, but it seems to me that You picked the wrong day.

Then, too, we must think of John. John works hard all week, and Sunday is about the only day he has to catch up on odd jobs around the house. I also feel like he should have one day a week to sleep, fish, golf, or visit the folks he doesn’t see during the week.

Please try to understand and don’t hold this against us.

Last Sunday we meant to go to church but had company. The Sunday before, we meant to go, but it was raining. The Sunday before that you know how cold it was. I was telling John last night that we just had to get back to church or people would thin we had quit. You know how people like to talk.

Without supplies, Cornwallis was ordered to move his 8,000 troops to a defensive position where the York River entered Chesapeake Bay.

By this time, Ben Franklin and Marquis de Lafayette had succeeded in their efforts to persuade French King Louis XVI to send ships and troops the help the Americans.

French Admiral de Grasse left off fighting the British in the West Indies and sailed 24 ships to the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, where, in the Battle of the Capes, he drove off 19 British ships which were sent to evacuate Cornwallis’ men.

De Grasse’s 3,000 French troops and General Rochambeau’s 6,000 French troops hurriedly joined General Lafayette’s division as they marched to help General Washington trap Cornwallis against the sea.

They joined the troops of Generals Benjamin Lincoln, Baron von Steuben, Modrecai Gist, Henry Knox and John Peter Muhlenberg.

Altogether, 17,000 French and American troops surrounded Cornwallis and, on OCTOBER 19, 1781, he surrendered.

Yale President Ezra Stiles wrote, May 8, 1783:

“Who but God could have ordained the critical arrival of the Gallic (French) fleet, so as to… assist… in the siege… of Yorktown?…

Should we not… ascribe to a Supreme energy… the wise… generalship displayed by General Greene… leaving the… roving Cornwallis to pursue his helter-skelter ill fated march into Virginia…

It is God who had raised up for us a…powerful ally… a chosen army and a naval force: who sent us a Rochambeau… to fight side by side with a Washington… in the… Battle of Yorktown.”

General Washington wrote:

“To diffuse the general Joy through every breast the General orders… Divine Service to be performed tomorrow in the several Brigades…

The Commander-in-Chief earnestly recommends troops not on duty should universally attend with that gratitude of heart which the recognition of such astonishing Interposition of Providence demands.”

The next year, October 11, 1782, the Congress of the Confederation passed:

“It being the indispensable duty of all nations…to offer up their supplications to Almighty God…the United States in Congress assembled…

do hereby recommend it to the inhabitants of these States in general, to observe…the last Thursday, in the 28th day of November next, as a Day of Solemn Thanksgiving to God for all his mercies.”

On September 3, 1783, the Revolutionary War officially ended with the Treaty of Paris, signed by Ben Franklin, John Adams, John Jay and David Hartley:

“In the name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity.

It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the hearts of the most serene and most potent Prince George the Third, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain…and of the United States of America, to forget all past misunderstandings and differences…

Done at Paris, this third day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three.”

With the war over, Massachusetts Governor John Hancock proclaimed November 8, 1783:

“The Citizens of these United States have every Reason for Praise and Gratitude to the God of their salvation…

I do…appoint…the 11th day of December next (the day recommended by the Congress to all the States) to be religiously observed as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer,

That all the people may then assemble to celebrate…that he hath been pleased to continue to us the Light of the Blessed Gospel…

That we also offer up fervent supplications… to cause pure Religion and Virtue to flourish…and to fill the world with his glory.”

Ronald Reagan, in proclaiming a Day of Prayer, stated January 27, 1983:

“In 1775, the Continental Congress proclaimed the first National Day of Prayer…

In 1783, the Treaty of Paris officially ended the long, weary Revolutionary War during which a National Day of Prayer had been proclaimed every spring for eight years.”

The Journal of the U.S. House of Representatives recorded that on March 27, 1854, the 33rd Congress voted unanimously to print Rep. James Meacham’s report, which stated:

“Down to the Revolution, every colony did sustain religion in some form. It was deemed peculiarly proper that the religion of liberty should be upheld by a free people…

Had the people, during the Revolution, had a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, that Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle.”

The Moral Liberal contributing editor, William J. Federer, is the bestselling author of “Backfired: A Nation Born for Religious Tolerance no Longer Tolerates Religion,” and numerous other books. A frequent radio and television guest, his daily American Minute is broadcast nationally via radio, television, and Internet. Check out all of Bill’s books here.

THE BIBLE SAYS…
My King is a seven-way king. He’s a king of the Jews, that’s a racial king. He’s a king of Israel, that’s a national king; He’s a king of righteousness; He’s a king of the ages; He’s a king of heaven; He’s a king of glory; He’s a king of kings; and He’s the Lord of Lords; that’s my King!
Well, I wonder, do you know Him? David said, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork.” My King is a sovereign King; no means of measure can define His limitless love; no far-seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supply; no barrier can hinder Him from throwing out His blessings. He’s enduringly strong; He’s entirely sincere; He’s eternally steadfast; He’s immortally graceful; He’s imperially powerful; He’s impartially merciful.

DO YOU KNOW HIM?
He’s the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world; He’s God’s Son; He’s the sinner’ s Savior; He’s the centerpiece of civilization; He stands in the solitude of Himself; He’s august and He’s unique; He’s unparalleled; He’s unprecedented. He is the loftiest idea in literature; He’s the highest personality in philosophy; He is the supreme problem in higher criticism; He’s the fundamental doctrine of true theology; He is the core, the necessity for spiritual religion; He’s the miracle of the age; He is the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him; He’s the only one qualified to be an all-sufficient Savior!

I WONDER IF YOU KNOW HIM TODAY?
He supplies strength for the weak; He’s available for the tempted and the tried; He sympathizes and He saves; He strengthens and sustains; He guards and He guides; He heals the sick; He cleansed the lepers; He forgives sinners; He discharges debtors; He delivers the captives; He defends the feeble; He blesses the young; He serves the unfortunate; He regards the aged; He rewards the diligent and He purified the meek.

I WONDER IF YOU KNOW HIM?
Well, my King, He is a key to knowledge; He’s a wellspring of wisdom; He’s a doorway of deliverance; He’s a pathway of peace; He’s a roadway of righteousness; He’s a highway of holiness; He’s a gateway of glory.

DO YOU KNOW HIM?
Well, His office is manifold; His promise is sure; His light is matchless; His goodness is limitless; His mercy is everlasting; His love never changes; His Word is enough; His grace is sufficient; His reign is righteousness and His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.

I wish I could describe Him to you! But He is indescribable! He’s God. He’s incomprehensible; He’s invincible; He’s irresistible; Well, you can’t get Him out of your mind; you can’t get Him off your hand; you can’t outlive Him and you can’t live without Him; The Pharisees couldn’t stand Him, but they found out they couldn’t stop Him; Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him; the witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree; Herod couldn’t kill Him; death couldn’t handle Him and the grave couldn’t hold Him!

YES, THAT’S MY KING! THAT’S MY KING!
And thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever and ever (How long is that?) and ever and ever, and when you get through with all the forevers then AMEN, AMEN, AMEN!!

Had you ever noticed, in Luke 16:19-31, that the rich man in Hell is not named? When he was living, no doubt he was known far and near for his wealth, his lavish parties and, if they had such in those days, was listed in “Who’s Who.” But when he died, he was just a nobody in Hell!

By contrast, had you noticed that Lazarus is named? When he was living, I doubt if the rich man or any of his friends knew his name, being known only as the beggar. When he died, there were no hired mourners and I am sure he was buried without notice in a potter’s field. But when his spirit left his house of clay, he was carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom. A nobody on earth, but he knew the Lord, and now he is listed in “Who’s Who” in Heaven!

The deepness of the Word

There is, today, a move away from the deep endearing knowledge of God and what He wants us to know. We are shallow in knowledge, relationship and living. We can no longer call our selves Christians because we do not pass the test of "Christ like." We want what we want and tend to move through the buffet line of the Bible, picking and choosing our desires. By this we allow our selves to indulge in worldly thought and actions.

We are called to be a separate people, distinct from the world and its practices. Those that call themselves Christians today practice worldly things and are no longer identifiable as Christians.